1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector mountable on a panel and to a method of mounting a connector housing of a connector on a panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,500 and FIG. 37 herein show a connector that is mountable on a door panel of an automotive vehicle. With reference to FIG. 37, the connector has a housing 1 that can pass through a mount hole H in a panel P. The housing 1 has a flange 2 and opposite locks 3 spaced from the flange 2. The housing 1 is mounted on the panel P by first passing one lock 3 through the mount hole H and engaging adjacent parts of the flange 2 with the panel P. The opposite side of the housing 1 then is pivoted toward the panel 1. As a result, the opposite lock 3 passes through the mount hole H and the flange 2 contacts a surface of the panel P. Thus, the panel P is held between the lock 3 and the flange 2, and the housing 1 is mounted on the panel P.
An operator may mistakenly believe that the housing 1 has been mounted even though the housing 1 has been mounted only partly. For example, the housing 1 may not be fixed firmly to the panel P at an intermediate stage of the mounting operation, and there are problems with leaving the housing 1 partly mounted.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem, and an object thereof is to prevent a connector housing from being left partly mounted on a panel.